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AIBU?

To wonder what the hell has happened to Amazon?

113 replies

CanisSapiens · 19/05/2015 01:12

I used to love them. I have spent thousands with them over the years, and they never let me down before. But they seem to have lost the plot.

May 6th, I ordered 2 childrens books for a school project. popular, mainstream, buy them anywhere books.

May 14th, I check my orders, and see that they are scheduled to be delivered sometime in June - bollocks to that, I need them for the project - I get onto live chat, who have previously always sorted any problem out for me straight away. They apologise, and promise to despatch that day for delivery Friday 15th.

Today (well, yesterday now), Monday 18th, still no books, not despatched. I contact live chat again, who promise to despatch today. Very sorry for the inconvenience and all. I've been checking my orders all day, at 8.00 pm the order was still not despatched, not even 'preparing for despatch'. I have spent the whole evening in increasingly desperate live chats, and they are just lying to me now. At 11:30 pm, an operator was still swearing that the order would be sent that day, and they despatch up til midnight (really?). I pointed out that there was only 30 minutes left, and the item wasn't even preparing for despatch. He still swore up and down that it would happen. At midnight, the date of dispatch changed over to the 19th. The next operator cheerily quoted this to me, and refused to respond when I said I'd been promised despatch the day before. He then cut me off. The next operator did the same.

Do Amazon still deliver books? I feel like I could scream. 12 days! and the project won't get done.

Have Amazon gone crap? :(

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Talismania · 19/05/2015 01:18

I've stopped using Amazon for anything other than buying TV episodes to watch because 80% of my orders weren't arriving. It's a shame becauSe they used to be so reliable.

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Redglitter · 19/05/2015 01:20

I've got Amazon Prime and I've never had any problems at all with delivery

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CanisSapiens · 19/05/2015 01:21

I certainly don't feel I can trust them with anything time sensitive again. And God, I hate being lied to by customer services...

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The5DayChicken · 19/05/2015 01:23

In short, yep, they've gone crap. I used to be fairly loyal and have probably spent thousands too but between fulfilling Prime orders and attempting to get more people to pay for Prime, standard services have gone right down the drain.

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CanisSapiens · 19/05/2015 01:24

Hmm, maybe they want us to pay their silly prime fee to get any sort of service at all.

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The5DayChicken · 19/05/2015 01:28

That's exactly it. They're making quite a few items Prime exclusive too and upping prices of any competing items. Such a shame that a company with consistently good service is bollocksing it all up by trying to exploit a loyal customer base.

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sunflower49 · 19/05/2015 01:34

I've stopped using it as well. I ordered something, arrived not as described, they refused to refund , seller gave me incorrect address and by the time the item was returned they said it was too late to help me. eBay all the way from now on. Rubbish!

I hated what they did with Amazon prime, too. I am not sure exactly how , I think you had to untick a box to not have it, rather than tick a box to get it. I didn't even know I'd signed up for it!They've refunded me now (£80ish it is?) but on their fb page I saw so many people begging for refunds who didn't know they'd 'asked' for it in the first place. £80 can be the difference between being able to feed your family for a week. Asshats.

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Redglitter · 19/05/2015 01:37

I think they made a major mistake in not offering 2 levels of Prime
I was going to cancel but then they got exclusive UK rights to a show I wanted to see so I reluctantly paid

I think.theyd do better if they offered the old P & P option

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sparklepopsicles · 19/05/2015 02:21

Totally agree. I had prime for a year but you just end up paying more for stuff to cover the next day delivery fee. It's a con and now the regular service is just shit. I joined amazon family too to get cheaper nappies but now you have to pay the prime fee in order to get those!! Really angers me Angry

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TheSkiingGardener · 19/05/2015 05:55

Another disillusioned customer here. I was happy to pay for Prime, but then the upped it hugely and I don't want the TV bit so cancelled. Then they discontinued the wipes order I subscribed to to sell their own version, now there's no discount on nappies unless you pay the prime fee. They are upping the free delivery limit to £20 too.

Funnily enough, I buy stuff elsewhere now.

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FlaviaAlbia · 19/05/2015 06:00

I use wordery for books now instead of amazon, I've been impressed with them them so far. I can't be bothered with amazon taking ages to dispatch and now charging for delivery on smaller orders too.

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MrsTrentReznor · 19/05/2015 06:04

I use prime anyway to watch films so I'm very happy with Prime and Amazon. I'd imagine from looking at the delivery options now available that they are a bit crap without prime though.

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Trumpton · 19/05/2015 06:11

Yrs I have lost faith with them as well.
I just checked my account and haven't bought anything , apart from ebooks since 22 March.
The latest hike to minimum spend of £20 for free postage has been the last straw for me.

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ememem84 · 19/05/2015 06:22

I've never had a customer service issue. If something's not arrived they are quick to refund (but then it arrives).

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TerracottaTilesAreSlippy · 19/05/2015 06:26

Use the Book Depository from now on. Free delivery worldwide and very good ime.

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chocomochi · 19/05/2015 06:29

Used to love Amazon. Never had experience with Prime, but won't be using now their minimum order is £20 to qualify for free delivery.

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SpringInTheStep · 19/05/2015 06:34

Thank you for your thread OP, I've really noticed it going downhill but thought I must be imagining it!

I was tricked into a year of prime when I enrolled on Amazon Family. It made it look like you get it automatically as a special offer, for a trial period. Of course, because I believed it to be a free trial, I used it quite happily.

But then noticed the deduction and contacted them, by which time it was too late because I'd used it, and they only refund if you haven't used prime apparently. Grrrr.

Aside from that, the new £20 minimal spend often means I have to buy something for 2p to save myself £9 delivery fee. So when you take this into account, that £9 suddenly could go to a different company and allow me to get the same products faster Shock

I now wait WEEKS for super-saver delivery. Printer cartridges and baby wipes - the items I've been buying for years now - suddenly take about 5 times longer to reach me.

I've started going elsewhere a lot now. I'm not certain they'd even do anything about it if people left in their droves. But I've left because eBay and random cheaper stores post to me next day and I receive my items the same week without these inordinate delays.

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Andrewofgg · 19/05/2015 06:48

Premium to lockers still seems to work for me, but I have just added Wordery and Book Depository to my favourites and will try them; thank you Flavia and Terracotta respectively!

I read a lot of German and Amazon.de is good - but so is Kaiser.

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letscookbreakfast · 19/05/2015 06:52

I've never had a problem with any of my orders.

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twofingerstoGideon · 19/05/2015 06:53

Terracotta The Book Depository are owned by Amazon.

Anyone trying to avoid Amazon's dubious ethical record might like to know they're buying from the same company!

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twofingerstoGideon · 19/05/2015 06:55

Wordery are a good option currently (until they get taken over!)

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ButterflyUpSoHigh · 19/05/2015 06:55

I've stopped ordering now they've changed the free delivery limits.I think they have lost a lot of business.

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AvocadoLime · 19/05/2015 06:56

I haven't had any problems with them, but I hadn't heard about the new £20 minimum! Most of my orders are under £10 and I stick something in to make it up, so that will lose pretty much all of my business, and I'm sure plenty of others are the same.

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ProfYaffle · 19/05/2015 06:57

£20 for free delivery? Shock I didn't know that. I've more or less stopped using Amazon too. I used to buy a lot of 2nd hand books but the postage has gone ridiculous, I've just switched to Ebay as most 2nd hand sellers use both sites.

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Penfold007 · 19/05/2015 06:58

Amazon have become expensive and unreliable. I only use the kindle downloads now.

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